I am organising a family barbecue soon; my daughter is coming over from Italy with her family, my grandmother is going to be 97 and it’s the perfect excuse to get everyone together and enjoy some family time. On family days like this we often play a few games and this year, I have a brand new game up my sleeve which I think is going to be an enormous hit…

Giant Pass The Pigs

Let me tell you more.

Paul introduced the game to me during our first Christmas together and I have been thrashing him playing the game ever since. It’s a really simple and fun idea; you hold two plastic pigs in your hands, shake and drop on the table. The two pigs can land in many different ways, razorback, trotter, snouter, even a leaning jowler and if both pigs land in the same position it’s likely to double your points! Take a look at the scores below for an idea.

This version is perfect for playing at home, pulling out after a meal one evening. Christmas and family get togethers are always a great occasion to play and being in a handy case, they are great for taking on holiday too.

Back to the Giant Pass The Pigs, they are really cool, they are easy and quick to blow up – the twins did ours! They also have a string bag to keep them in once deflated along with the score pad, pencils and other bits and pieces that you need for the game.

We had our first game one weekend whilst staying at our caravan in Thanet, it was a really fun moment playing in the garden. Although Bessie’s face might not say it – I think she was concentrating on a win ;)

This game can be played anywhere, indoors and outdoors, it’s easy enough to take to the park, beach or even on holiday as it packs away neatly and is quick to assemble. Like I said, it’s a family favourite.

Just look at them … they’re adorable, aren’t they?

Treat yourself to some family fun!

Disclosure: Pass the Pigs and it is suitable for all ages, the younger players might need some help adding up the scores but that’s it. We were set a set of each game for the purpose of this review.

Okay, so we are on week 3 of the summer holidays, hands up if you have already heard ‘I’m bored!’ in that whining sound that grates every parent’s nerves.

Kids of today eh? There’s just no pleasing them. They are tired and fed up when it’s school time and they are bored at home with all the free time they could wish for! Mind you, if I look back to when I was a child, I said the same. My guess is some things will never change and this is one of them.

Sun-Pat Fuelling Families downloadable guide

Click to download a guide with 42 activities to keep busy this summer.

I have come to the conclusion that with just a little thought and minimal planning you can actually keep them occupied and know that they’ll have loads of fun too. Sun-Pat have known this for a long time too and decided to come to all parent’s rescue this summer. They have put together an excellent sports kit held in a strong and handy holdall containing a football (which dad says is a very good one), a cricket set and a skipping rope.

With just these few items (which Sun-Pat sent us to review), we had an entire afternoon of fun and guess who was best at the skipping challenge? #JustSayin

Sun-Pat are convinced that all kids need to get outdoors is a little inspiration and some good company and on that note, they are giving away 420 special sports kits this summer and you can easily get one too.

In the photos, you can see us playing with our kit at the caravan but we shall be taking it to the beach and to parks, it’s such a handy bag with a carrying handle too. With the equipment included, you don’t have to stick to the traditional games but you can create your own like obstacle courses, or bouncing the ball as many times as you can, dribbling the ball around obstacles laid out and skipping forwards, backwards all sorts!

Research discovered that 85% of kids wish they spent more time outside over the summer so now they have no excuse. A bag full of goodies and the local park (plus a few peanut butter sandwiches for a half time snack) is all you need for an afternoon of fun.

Get your Sun-Pat summer sports kit

Sun-Pat Peanut Butter is a perfect natural source of protein and fibre and helps maintain energy levels, and the guide also includes recipes for simple and delicious snacks to fuel your whole family this summer.

You can tell it’s the summer holidays as the weather has turned! Typical isn’t it, months of glorious sunshine and hot sunny days and now the kids are home it gets cold and starts to rain.

No fear here guys, we were sent a copy of The Boss Baby DVD to review and it’s perfect family viewing. This is just what you need to pull out of the bag on a bad day (or even a good one for that matter!)

The Boss Baby Review

Well, it’s a comedy. It’s about the new arrival of a baby in the home and Tim Templeton, the older brother who is now 7 and should be in charge, starts to lose his temper when the new baby brother – who wears a suit and carries a briefcase – starts making it very clear he is in charge.

Tim goes on to discover his baby brother is on a secret mission and ends up teaming up with him. together they go on an awesome adventure that might change the world…

Who’s in it?

The baby is Alec Baldwin and other famous voices you are likely to hear are from Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, Miles Bakshi and Tobey Maguire.

If you are interested, keep your eyes peeled for the THE BOSS BABY SPECIAL EDITION out on Blu-ray™ and DVD on July 31 which includes some great special features like the new Mini Adventure; a 3-minute action-packed journey through time featuring Boss Baby and Tim. Join the fun as Boss Baby and Tim battle pirates, travel through outer space, swim deep into the sea, and go toe-to-toe with some ferocious dinosaurs! Other special features include “Cookies are for Closers: Inside BabyCorp,” Deleted Scenes and more!

DreamWorks Animation’sTHE BOSSBABY is available now onDigital Download, Blu-ray™ and DVD,from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

I love the fact that the twins are passionate about reading and I am so proud that they are so good at it! They are currently on Ruby level which is an excellent place to be and reading helps with their spelling, English lessons and comprehension. It also helps with all of the other subjects too, the comprehension, the writing and the revision when the time comes.

After a disastrous Year 4 (4 changes of teacher in 1 year!) we shall be pleased to see the back of it but I do feel it is more important than ever to keep the girls ticking over during the summer and reading is the perfect way to keep them amused and up to date. Bonus for me that it won’t be a hardship, maths, well maths will require the patience of a saint this summer…

There are so many fantastic books out there that when Harper Collins asked if we’d like to review some titles for them I jumped at the chance. The good news is, the books were all so good (sent just before last half term) that I’m going to have to go out and buy some more. Fortunately, many of the titles below were the first book in a series, so I know exactly what to buy them!

The girls are working their way through them, here’s what they had to say…

Geek Girl – Holly Smale

This was the first book that Alice chose out of the six we were sent to review and she couldn’t put it down. Bessie is reading it at the moment.

“My name is Harriet Manners, and I am a geek.”

Harriet knows a lot of things, all sorts of things but she doesn’t know why nobody seems to like her at school. This is one of children’s greatest fears: not being liked by their school friends. It can cause great upset and reading about another child’s take on the situation helps in understanding how they can get on more.

Harriet goes into modelling, which of course isn’t going to be everyone’s way out of the problem. In fact, it doesn’t help Harriet much either as the reader will find out. So it’s up to Harriet to look for another alternative and that’s where the can’t-put-the-book-down syndrome kicks in.

Alice says: I really loved this book and want to read the others now.

Blink and you die – Ruby Redfort

Ruby Redfort: undercover agent, code-cracker and thirteen-year-old genius – you can count on her when the ice starts to crack.

All good things come to an end… Ruby Redfort is running scared, a whole bunch of people want her dead and worst of all one of them is on her team. But just who is this agent of doom?

You can run, Ruby, but you can’t hide…

Alice says: I couldn’t get into this book so I have put it to one side to try later on.

Scarlet and Ivy, The Lights Under The Lake – Sophie Cleverly

Scarlet and Ivy’s school trip takes a turn for the worse as another mystery begins to unfold…

The fourth book in the SCARLET AND IVY series is perfect for fans of MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE.

It’s summer and as a special treat after the horrors of last term Mrs Knight announces a school trip to Shady Pines Hotel on the shores of Lake Seren. Scarlet and Ivy are thrilled to get away from Rookwood for a break!

But the old hotel and the waters of the lake reservoir are covering up dark secrets. And when mysterious things start happening to hotel guests it seems that a malicious new threat is haunting the girls.

Locals say that at night you can hear the ringing of the church bells and see lights under the lake, that troubled souls buried in the flooded graveyard no longer rest…

Bessie’s first pick. she says: I really loved this book and want to collect the others now too.

When Fran the Fabulous Fairy turns up in Tiga Whicabim’s shed to tell her she’s a witch, Tiga doesn’t believe her. Or at least not until Fran points out that TIGA WHICABIM is actually an anagram of I AM A BIG WITCH and magics her away down the drainpipes to compete in Witch Wars – the competition to crown the next Top Witch of Ritzy City.

Filled with silly spells, delectable dresses, ridiculous riddles and a serious shoe problem, Witch Wars is a witch story like no other. Although if you enjoyed The Worst Witch, you’ll love this too!

Bessie says: This was really funny and I really enjoyed it.

Radio Boy – Christian O’Connell

Alice read this book and loved it, see what she has to say …

From leading breakfast radio star Christian O’Connell comes a brilliant and laugh-out-loud story of an ordinary boy with an extraordinary secret radio show. (Broadcast from his shed.)

Meet Spike, aka Radio Boy: a new Adrian Mole on the radio for the internet generation.

Spike’s your average awkward 11 year old, funny and cheeky and with a mum to reckon with. When he becomes the first presenter ever to be sacked from hospital radio, he decides to carry on from a makeshift studio in the garden shed, with the help of his best friends Artie and Holly, disguising his voice and going by the moniker Radio Boy.

Week by week, word gets around and soon Spike is a star… if only people knew it was actually him. When Spike begins to believe his own hype, and goes too far with his mocking of the school headmaster, a hunt is launched for the mysterious Radio Boy.

Can Spike remain anonymous? Will he get to marry the girl of his dreams, Katherine Hamilton? Will he become famous and popular? The answer to most of these questions is no…

Alice says: Such a good book, it made me laugh a lot and I couldn’t put it down.

Goodly and Grave in a bad case of kidnap – Justine Windsor

An archly funny, classic mystery adventure with a magic twist!

Lucy Goodly is the new boot girl at Grave Hall, working for the cold, aloof Lord Grave. The other staff – Vonk the Butler, Mrs Crawley the cook and Violet the scullery maid – all seem friendly but Lucy soon notices that strange things are afoot in her new home – and not just Mrs Crawley’s experimental anchovy omelettes. There are moving statues, magical books and Lord Grave has a secret. Meanwhile, all over the country, children are vanishing. Could the mystery of the missing children be linked to the strange goings-on? Lucy is determined to find out…

Nobody has read this one yet but judging by the standards of the others sent through, we think this is going to be a really good read.

Skulduggery Pleasant – Derek Landy

Meet the great Skulduggery Pleasant: wise-cracking detective, powerful magician, master of dirty tricks and burglary (in the name of the greater good, of course).

Oh yeah. And dead.

Then there’s his sidekick, Stephanie. She’s… well, she’s a twelve-year-old girl. With a pair like this on the case, evil had better watch out…

“So you won’t keep anything from me again?”
He put his hand to his chest. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”
“Okay then. Though you don’t actually have a heart,” she said.
“I know.”
“And technically, you’ve already died.”
“I know that too.”
“Just so we’re clear.”

Stephanie’s uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror, it certainly wasn’t fiction.

Pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source – the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard.

When all hell breaks loose, it’s lucky for Skulduggery that he’s already dead. Though he’s about to discover that being a skeleton doesn’t stop you from being tortured, if the torturer is determined enough. And if there’s anything Skulduggery hates, it’s torture… Will evil win the day? Will Stephanie and Skulduggery stop bickering long enough to stop it? One thing’s for sure: evil won’t know what’s hit it.

Nobody has read this one yet but judging by the standards of the others sent through, we think this is going to be a really good read.

A lovely selection of great books that will keep tweens hanging on for more, why not invest in a couple or see if your local library has them?

Disclosure: Harper Collins sent us through these books to read for the purpose of this post, we would really recommend them to you

Ballerina was one film that the twins saw at the cinema and said immediately they wanted to see again, they adored it. I knew that when it came out on DVD it would be worth purchasing as the girls could watch and re-watch as many times as they liked. They do three dance lessons a week including tap, modern and ballet so, Ballerina really speaks to them and inspires them to improve and follow their own dreams.

The story is centred around Felicie, a young orphan with the single passion of becoming a prima ballerina. Felicie doesn’t walk anywhere, she dances and leaps and twirls and springs. Tables and chairs don’t get in her way, she glides over them, slides across them or pirouettes around them. Felicie is obsessed with dancing. Her best friend in the orphanage is Victor. Victor is an aspiring inventor, he is always making machines or objects, some work out but most don’t. However, this doesn’t deter Victor in his mission to become a famous inventor. He is also a tiny bit in love with Felicie. Together the children hatch a plan to escape the orphanage and run away to Paris where their dreams can come true.

Ballerina follows the children and watches how they do everything in their power to make their dreams come true, including the odd lie here and there (Felicie).

It is a very enjoyable film and one I shall enjoy watching again with them too.

In case you want to add it to your home viewing bookcase then today – 17th April you can, Ballerina is available for Digital Download and also in Blu-ray and DVD versions courtesy of Entertainment One.